This invention relates a countercoil and recoil damper for an automatic firearm having a gun mount, a weapon housing mounted on the gun mount in such manner that it can slide backward and forward from a starting position, at least two packs of annular springs arranged in a row for damping the recoil energy after the firearm has been fired, and one annular spring pack for damping the countercoil energy. The characteristics graph of the annular spring packs is steeper during compression than during release.
Many devices of a similar type are known. The most important ones are as follows: In Swiss Pat. No. 497,678, there is described a device for the damping of countercoil and recoil in an automatic firearm. Mounted in a gun mount, the weapon housing slides backward and forward from a starting position, and is provided with two annular spring packs arranged in a row, the first annular spring pack being designed to absorb the countercoil energy, and the first and second annular spring packs arranged in a series being designed to absorb the recoil energy together. The characteristics graph of these annular spring packs is steeper during compression than during release.
Known devices, such as that described in Swiss Pat. No. 497,678, do not ensure a floating support of the weapon, as the exclusive use of annular spring packs either causes excessive hysteresis dispersion, when the angle of the annular springs is small, or too little hysteresis when the angle of the annular springs is too wide.
To ensure floating support of a firearm, known hydraulic brakes are used. Swiss Pat. No. 427,576 describes an automatic firearm with a locking housing supported on a mount, capable of backward movement, having a damping device positioned between the housing and the mount. This damping device is provided with a hydraulic brake that acts against a rest position during forward movement or countercoil of the firearm. The brake is further equiped with a buffer element which catches the weapon's countercoil in an elastic manner. The buffer element and the hydraulic brake are arranged in series. The buffer element dampens the shock which occurs when the closure impacts upon the closurre housing when the weapon moves forward on the weapon mount.
This known device has the disadvantage of every buffer element, i.e., it is dependent upon the temperature of the liquid, so that consistent operation is not possible at all temperatures.